Framed: Full Metal Jacket

Welcome to Framed, a column at Cinematical that celebrates the artistry of cinema -- one frame at a time.

Truth be told, I could write a column of Framed every week for at least a year highlighting something from a Stanley Kubrick film. Kubrick's technical mastery is legendary -- his films are meticulously made with every shot, every camera placement, and every angle considered in the way only a filmmaker with a background in tournament chess could conceive. His reputation as a perfectionist is well-documented, with countless tales circulating about how he required dozens (and in some instances over a hundred ... ) takes to get exactly what he wanted.

Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket may not be the first film that springs to mind when thinking about striking imagery in a film -- not because it's lacking in artistic merit, but because some of Kubrick's other films (most notably, 2001) are such visual marvels. Full Metal Jacket, Kubrick's last commentary on the nature of war, is relatively drab looking affair -- filled with muted colors, harsh lighting, and a certain graininess that seems almost unflattering. There's a method to Kubrick's madness though -- and each of these things, along with the incredibly formal framing of many of the shots in the film, serves a specific purpose in creating the mood and subconscious tone of Full Metal Jacket.